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Thursday, January 30, 2014

One Little Word | January Update

In January, I dared myself to let my days evolve naturally. (My word for 2014 is dare.)

It was a sharp contrast to my usual approach of setting goals and making lists. It felt particularly weird to do it in January, the traditional month for resolution setting.

I did it because I wanted to try out a gentler start to the year. And I wanted to see if I could get more in touch with what my heart was calling for each day, rather than letting pre-determined goals or lists set my daily agendas.

I was curious to find out whether heart-directed action, vs my usual head-directed planned approach, would yield more satisfying days, or richer outcomes. Or, instead, would it yield listless days with no concrete outcomes? Would I just sit around and waste time, without goals to focus and motivate me?

I was a bit surprised by what happened. It didn't feel that different. I didn't fall into a pit of despair. The family still got fed. The dog got walked. I got my exercise. I ate well, perhaps even healthier than usual. I worked on my novel. I even got out a long-stalled quilting project and got it moving again.

At first, watching myself feel motivated to do all these things, I thought something was wrong with my experiment. Maybe I was actually setting goals in my head, habitually, and just not writing them down. Maybe I was cheating.

And then I remembered that my goal with this January dare wasn't to stop doing stuff. It was to do what I felt called to do each day. Perhaps this was good news, that I was feeling naturally called to eat well, exercise, and work on my novel. And indeed, I think that's what happened.

Goals are helpful, and I am sure I will set them again. It's part of my nature. But it was reassuring and pleasant to find that I was still motivated to do healthy, productive things even without setting an explicit goal. Just doing things because they feel good and feel right was a nice way of living. And a great way to start the year.
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I have a new dare for February and I'm very excited about it. Tune in here on Saturday to read about it, and keep an eye on instagram. I'll be marking my progress in February there. Have a good weekend!

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I am a writer, coach, facilitator, former marketing executive, and a mom. I blog here about the practices and routines that cultivate curiosity, creativity, connection, and resilience. I'm glad you're here!